“Those who have subdued their ego understand that it doesn’t degrade you when others treat you poorly. It degrades them.” –Ryan Holliday
I’ve been thinking a lot about EGO lately, and it fits into my theory that most of the world is counterintuitive.
When we push to beat other people at things, when we compete, it’s actually a zero sum game, There is a winner and a loser, thus, no value is added. It’s was just moved from person to person.
Our EGO needs that win to validate us, yet we never feel validated. Never feel like we got what we were owed.
Once you realize something, it will shift how you see the world, and in turn shift how the world sees you, and more importantly reacts to you.
That realization is…
You can just stop competing.
Stop doing things to win. Stop measuring success against others. Stop egging on competition among teammates. Quit chasing that next rush for your EGO to soak in.
And guess what happens?
All the “stuff” that you’ve chased for years will start falling in your lap.
All the things that you’ve struggled to author will start being co-authored by others around you.
All that shit that you’ve wanted “credit for” will feel differed now because you don’t need credit for anything, because you’re not doing anything to receive credit.
Start seeing life differently. Feel it as a community, not a competition. Every single conversation is adding value and nudging your community in a specific direction. Every single interaction adds value to your community.
It’s not you against anyone. There are no “haters”. It’s you potentially changing someones world.
Your life as a community is part of a much larger community of your area, your state and of the world!
When we think of it like that, and you add value to someone, it adds value to the community, and in turn adds value right back to you.